Man, gotta love the wall that turns into stairs. Cool looking castle, the panels don't bother me really, since a lot of detail has been put into it and it looks very good, while maintaining a legitimate feel. No way I can simply just buy this with all the LOTRO sets coming out. Too much good stuff at once.

The term "Hobby" allows you to explain to your relatives why you still play with toys...

I just saw the pictures on Eurobricks of the new Zombie set in the Monster Fighters line. The Zombie bride and Groom look awesome and a little bit creepy. Its strange that Lego has actually created 3 female figures in this line. Pharaohs Quest only had 1 woman same as Atlantis. There are alot of parts on the Ann Lee minifig that will suit castle scenes. All the new glow in the dark parts are going to be useful even the rats and spider. I can see a plague of glowing rats infesting my castle sets.

I actually find this more tempting than LotR. I've been saying that LEGO should do a "monster hunters" type theme, and the period setting makes it even better than I had imagined. It looks like they've used some of the Collectible Minifigs as a starting point for the villains, which is really exciting because it suggests they're using the CM concept to test the waters for possible future themes.

I see myself getting most if not all of the sets...and maybe orchestrating some team-ups with Pharaoh's Quest!

Now that is a blast from the past. Good call! This particular set has some many ways to complement the other castle sets that have come out recently. With LOTR sets coming out, it'll be tough to budget this one in. BUT, where there is a will, there is a way!

I defintely see this set somehow intergrated into a Black Knights set, or perhaps I'll add this into a Vladek set up. Yeah, I collected a LOT of Vladek sets.

I finished building the Vampires castle last night and I must say its very fun to build. Very few repetitive builds in this set. I know its not strictly a castle set but it has some great features.Most of the Lego castle from the castle line that i have built seem to be pretty plain and standard in construction. They generally seem to use the same formula to their build. The standard castle consists of a gatehouse, towers, small prison cell, secret wall, trap door and maybe a throne room or magicians workshop.

The vampires castle has some of these features but with a more gruesome and deadly twist added to them. This is probably the most deadly castle that Lego has ever produced even though it its from a line called Monster Fighters and seems to be aimed mainly at kids. We have had many castles where you walk through the front gate and an axe falls down on you, but in the Vamp castle you get stabbed from each side by spikes. The Vamps castle has a prison cell, but this prison cell has the prisoner in manacles dangling from a chain that can be raised and lowered. No chance to pick the lock if you are dangling from your wrists. There is a map room with a trap door in the floor. There's no dropping into a prison cell in this castle... If you step onto the trap door in this castle, you fall 2 floors onto a pile of spikes.

This is an awesome castle with some great features. All it needs is an extra wall and it would be a fully contained and defensible castle. I highly suggest that if you are a castle fan you go out and get this set. Make it the Batlords castle there's already a lab, library and cauldron ready for the resident witch.

I like this thing, sadly, I won't be buying it this year, but very soon in the next year I will buy one, maybe two. It has a somewhat similar style to the gate at the tournament, I think I can make a nice gothic castle out of it.

Ah, I love the Monster Fighter's Castle, especially since it contains several minifigs that I want. The only downside, for me, is that it comes with that silly car. That's the thing I don't like about the Atlantis/Pharoah Quest/Monster Hunters/etc. themes. They come with these bizarre modern(ish) things that are too advanced for my Castles or Pirates, but too primitive for my Space sets! Come to think of it, I have the same problem with Ninjago. I have some crazy blue jet thing, which could kind of work with Space, but not with a ninja in it!

I still want the castle and the Ghost Train, but my jaw hit the floor when I saw the Haunted House! It has the awesome minifigs and all the pieces go to making the very cool house--no random jet-pack or helicopter or things like that. Though it seems they are charging extra for NOT including such a thing.

being one of the handful of castle people that isn't interested in the LOTR stuff, I'm giving these serious consideration: The minifigs are good and the larger sets are intriguing. What's more, the gamer gene in me has kicked in and I can see games involving the Vampire and his army of manbats and zombies vs. The Mad scientist and his horde of custom creatures for control of the monster realm, with our heroes caught in the middle...now wehre did I put my dice?

"The true measure of a hero is not in the greatness of his deeds, it's in the greatness of the deeds he inspires in others"

BTappel wrote:I agree with others that these sets look good, but I will pass on this theme. I think there are too many panels in that castle. Especially compared to the joust and incoming LOTR sets, this castle is outclassed.